These juicy pork carnitas are cooked slowly until tender and roasted in the oven until crispy on the edges and perfectly golden. Serve in lettuce wraps, tacos, salads, burritos, bowls or other Mexican dishes. It’s so easy to make and incredibly delicious! Paleo and Whole30 too!

Why you’ll love this pork carnitas recipe:

• It’s the most delicious Mexican shredded pork with just the right amount of juicy, tender, crunchy flavors

!

• It’s so versatile! You can serve this meat with any of your favorite Mexican dishes. The options are endless: tacos, lettuce wraps, salads, rice bowls, burritos, etc.
• Only 5-10 minutes of preparation time, then let the slow cooker do the work. The slow cooker is perfect for roasting a juicy and tender piece of meat. I also use mine for this easy slow cooker roast (Whole30 and Paleo)
• perfect for making a big family gathering or party. You can make a large batch of pork carnitas with a 3-8 pound pork butt. It stays fresh and tasty for hours after cooking.
• Pork carnitas are great for freezing. Once the meat cools, simply throw it in a freezer-safe glass container and freeze it for up to 3 months. When you are ready to eat it, thay it in the fridge overnight.
• Pork carnitas are paleo friendly and compatible with Whole30. You can serve Mexican shredded pork in a salad full of vegetables, in grain-free tortillas, with roasted vegetables, guacamole or cauliflower rice.

How to make slow cooker carnitas: You will need a

• slow cooker to make the carnitas. I use Hamilton Beach Portable 6-Quart.

Pork butt or pork shoulder

• : For the best Mexican shredded pork that falls apart easily and has the right amount of fat, I recommend choosing a pork butt or pork shoulder. Make sure you have no skin and preferably no bone. I recommend buying pasture-raised pork for the highest quality meat.
• Rub: dry the pork with paper towels and rub a mixture of oregano, cumin, chili powder, paprika, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper

.

• Flavor Addition: Place the pork in the slow cooker and top with diced onion, garlic, and jalapeño. Then, pour the juices of the limes and orange over the pork.
• Cook slowly for 8-10 hours (cooking times will vary depending on the size of the cigarette butt) or until the pork crumbles easily and is tender. Transfer the pork to a baking sheet and crush the pork with two forks.
• Make it crispy: Roast in the oven- Roast pork
  • in the oven for 5-10 minutes (I found that 5 minutes was a perfect time to crunch pork without drying it. Make sure there is 1/4-1/2 cup of liquid on the baking sheet with the pork before roasting.
  • To make it crispy on the stove, heat 1 tablespoon of coconut oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, place the pork in the pan along with some juices from the slow cooker. Pan frying on one side until the juices have evaporated and the pork is crispy to your liking.

How to Serve

Pork carnitas

are incredibly versatile and you can use the meat to make any of your favorite Mexican recipes, such as pork carnitas tacos, a simple salad, cauliflower rice, lettuce wraps or bowls (with pork carnitas, lots of vegetables, vegetables, avocado/guacamole, tomato, etc.) My favorite is the pork carnitas tacos

. Simply fill the soft peel of the taco (I use grain-free tortillas from Siete) with the pork carnitas, then top with diced red onion, sliced avocado and chopped fresh cilantro for a super easy dinner that everyone will love.

More Mexican recipes you’ll want to try:

Loaded taco zucchini boats (Paleo, Whole30,

Keto)
• Honey Cilantro Salmon and lime

(Paleo)

• Chipotle Beef Slow cooker Barbecue (Whole,

Paleo,

• Keto) Ground beef taco bowls (Paleo, Whole30)

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